Cry: Lent Daybook 36
Take a few deep breaths, settle your body, mind, and heart into a quiet space, and let’s begin with prayer.
Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, make me more like Jesus and more like the true self you’ve created as I savor your loving presence today. Please guide my thoughts and impressions by your Holy Spirit. Amen
Look:
Color del dolor: 21 Uvalde murals of Robb Elementary victims use paint to heal pain. - Source
Ana Rodriguez and her sons, Adrean and Caleb, paint a small blue fish as part of the mural in memory of her daughter, Maite, in Uvalde on July 24. Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune - Source
Listen: Such Things Should Never Happen, Nick Cave - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube
Read: Psalm 119:145-176; Psalm 128-130; Jeremiah 25:30-38; Romans 10:14-21; John 10:1-18
Excerpts:
With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord. I will keep your statutes. I cry to you; save me, that I may observe your decrees. I rise before dawn and cry for help; I put my hope in your words. My eyes are awake before each watch of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. In your steadfast love hear my voice; O Lord, in your justice preserve my life. Those who persecute me with evil purpose draw near; they are far from your law. Yet you are near, O Lord, and all your commandments are true. Long ago I learned from your decrees that you have established them forever.
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The Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!
Often have they attacked me from my youth—let Israel now say—often have they attacked me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed on my back; they made their furrows long. The Lord is righteous; he has cut the cords of the wicked.
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Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
I wait for the Lord; my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
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You, therefore, shall prophesy to them all these words and say to them:
The Lord will roar from on high and from his holy habitation utter his voice; he will roar mightily against his fold and shout like those who tread grapes against all the inhabitants of the earth. The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the Lord has an indictment against the nations; he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the guilty he will put to the sword, says the Lord.
Thus says the Lord of hosts: See, disaster is spreading from nation to nation, and a great tempest is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth!
Those slain by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented or gathered or buried; they shall become dung on the surface of the ground.
Wail, you shepherds, and cry out; roll in ashes, you lords of the flock, for the days of your slaughter have come—and your dispersions, and you shall fall like a choice vessel. Flight shall fail the shepherds, and there shall be no escape for the lords of the flock. Listen! The cry of the shepherds and the wail of the lords of the flock! For the Lord is despoiling their pasture, and the peaceful folds are devastated because of the fierce anger of the Lord. Like a lion he has left his den, for their land has become a waste because of the cruel anger and because of his fierce anger.
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But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
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So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
—Psalm 101:1-4; Psalm 109:1-21; Psalm 119:121-128; Jeremiah 18:5-11; Romans 8:1-6; John 6:27-35
Pray: On Wednesdays, we'll pray the Confession and Litany of Penitence from the Ash Wednesday service in the Book of Common Prayer. Include the specific names of people and places that come to mind as you pray. If you are able to pray this with someone else, one of you can pray the unbolded words and then pray the bolded words together.
If possible, offer this prayer while kneeling.
Let us humbly confess our sins to Almighty God.
Silence
Most holy and merciful Father, we confess to you, and to one another, and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth, that we have sinned, through our own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven. We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit.
Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For all our unfaithfulness and disobedience; for the pride, vanity, and hypocrisy of our lives; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our self-pity and impatience, and our envy of those we think more fortunate than ourselves; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our unrighteous anger, bitterness, and resentment; for all lies, gossip, and slander against our neighbors; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our sexual impurity, our exploitation of other people, and our failure to give of ourselves in love; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our intemperate pursuit of worldly goods and comforts; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our dishonesty in daily life and work, our ingratitude for your gifts, and our failure to heed your call. Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our wastefulness and misuse of your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you
For all false judgments, for prejudice and contempt of others, and for all uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our negligence in prayer and worship; for our presumption and abuse of your means of grace; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For seeking the praise of others rather than the approval of God; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
For our failure to commend the faith that is in us; Lord, have mercy upon us: For we have sinned against you.
Show favor to your people, O Lord, who turn to you in weeping, fasting, and prayer. For you are a merciful God, full of compassion, long-suffering, and abounding in steadfast love. You spare when we deserve punishment, and in your wrath you remember mercy. Spare your people, good Lord, spare us; in the multitude of your mercies, look upon us and forgive us; through the merits and mediation of your blessed Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Silence
Stand for the remainder of the prayer, you might consider holding open your hands as a gesture of receiving God’s forgiveness.
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who in his great mercy has promised forgiveness of sins to all those who sincerely repent and with true faith turn to him, have mercy upon us, pardon and deliver us from all our sins, confirm and strengthen us in all goodness, and bring us to everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hear the Word of God to all who truly turn to him: If anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)
The Peace of the Lord be always with you. And also with you.
Share God's peace with someone else as you return to your day.
Do: On Wednesdays through Lent, consider fasting from spending money, and feast on giving alms instead. This week, consider giving to Everytown For Gun Safety.
Almsgiving is a traditional Lenten practice. This week pray that the Lord would show you his face in the most distressing of your neighbors, and lead you to ways that you can show compassionate mercy.
Let each necessary purchase remind you of the reality of our complete poverty and helplessness before God and without the work of Christ.
You might also find helpful: Lenten Disciplines: Almsgiving
*Sunday Scripture readings are taken from Year A of the Book of Common Prayer 2019 (Anglican Church of North America). Daily Scripture readings are taken from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and include both Morning and Evening Psalms (Year 1)